LIRR commuters who use ticket vending machines are being advised to check their accounts for unauthorized withdrawals.
MTA police say thieves are trying to steal credit and debit card information after they recently found card skimming devices and tiny hidden cameras on vending machines at the station in Baldwin.
MTA police are investigating and have identified a suspect as Vasile Ovidiu Haidau, a 35-year-old Romanian national who police say has ties to a credit card - identity theft gang in California.
Monday, police saw the 35-year old tampering with a VTM, confronted him, but he got away in a blue Volvo s80.
Their thought is, Haidau was returning to the machine to pick up the pieces of his dirty work.
Last week MTA workers, who routinely check all 278 ticket vending machines in the system, spotted a card skimming device and a tiny camera mounted on a machine.
"It's a pretty sophisticated operation, in general whenever using ticket vending machines or ATM, it's always good to cover your pin as you are putting it in so if there are hidden cameras, they won't be able to capture information," said LIRR spokesperson Joe Calderone.
Last year, similar devices were used to steal financial information from several LIRR customers at stations on the Port Washington line. A Queens couple pleaded guilty to conspiracy and larceny charges in that case last week.
MTA Police said Haidau was last seen on Monday morning driving a 2014 Blue Volvo S80 traveling west on Sunrise Highway in Baldwin. The rental car carried the license plate number GXR5959. Detective say Haidau should be considered dangerous and if in anyone spots him they a should notify the MTA Police Department Detective Division at (516) 222-6501 or the On Duty-On Call Detective Sergeant via MTA Police Communications at (718) 361-2201. >
